Fleeing Bangladesh Building Owner Caught

Rescue workers react after a fire broke out Sunday during the search for survivors in a building that collapsed in Bangladesh last week.
Associated Press

By

Syed Zain Al-Mahmood

Updated April 29, 2013 7:48 a.m. ET

DHAKA—An elite paramilitary unit in Bangladesh apprehended the fugitive owner of a building that collapsed last week, as the death toll approached 400.

Sohel Rana, who had been in hiding since his Rana Plaza building collapsed on Wednesday, was about to flee the country through the Benapole border crossing to India about 250 miles, or 400 kilometers. southwest of Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital, a spokesman for the paramilitary Rapid Action Battalion said. The battalion draws on both soldiers and policemen and is known for commando-style raids.

The owner of the building that collapsed in Bangladesh has been charged with criminal negligence. The WSJ's Syed Zain Al-Mahmood tells us how the public outcry is forcing the government to step up the enforcement of work safety laws.

Also Sunday, a fire broke out during the rescue effort at the collapsed building, killing the last known trapped survivor, a woman who had said her name was Shahana Begum.

"We were talking to her, giving her oxygen while we cut through the concrete," Shams Uddin, a firefighter, said in a telephone interview. "But after hanging on for four days, she died in the fire. Three of my men were also injured and are now in hospital."

At the site of a collapsed factory complex in Dhaka, Bangladesh, rescue workers searched among the rubble as distraught family members of missing workers waited for word of their loved ones. Video by Zain Syed via WorldStream.

Maj. Gen. Hasan Suhrawardy, an official coordinating the rescue effort, said he believes there aren't any survivors left. Rescuers in the aftermath of an earthquake typically hunt for survivors for up to one week. Monday will mark five days since the building collapse. Several hundred people still are deemed to be missing.

Four people were rescued from the wreckage Sunday afternoon, amid cheers from crowds.

Col. Ziaul Ahsan, an RAB spokesman, told reporters that Mr. Rana, a politician in the Dhaka suburb of Savar, where the building was located, was apprehended in a raid at the border. The crossing at Benapole is known as a channel for smugglers ferrying cargo and people into India.

Mr. Rana was presented before the media at the briefing but made no statement. Neither he nor any lawyer representing him could be reached to comment.

ENLARGE

Sohel Rana, owner of the collapsed building, after his capture on Sunday.
Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

An official in the RAB said authorities had been tipped off as to his whereabouts.

A warrant had been issued for Mr. Rana on suspicion of illegal construction and criminal negligence leading to death, according to Col. Mukhlesur Rahman, director of the RAB.

In Bangladesh, the accused is typically charged after the investigation is completed, and that often happens months after the defendant is taken into custody.

The Savar building contained five garment factories. Its collapse has heightened criticism that Western retailers, which have flocked to Bangladesh for its low-wage apparel industry, should do more to monitor worker safety in plants that manufacture their brands.

On Sunday evening, army and fire-service teams prepared to move in with heavy equipment to clear large chunks of fallen masonry. Later, shortly after the fire—which apparently started after army engineers tried to cut through a column to reach Ms. Begum—army officials at the site decided it was too dangerous for rescuers to tunnel inside and started to use heavy cranes.

The fire at the building site broke out at about 10:30 p.m. Sunday and was brought under control just before 11 p.m.

The fire illustrates the difficulties rescuers have faced in getting people out of the tangled mass of steel and concrete. Mr. Uddin, the firefighter, said his team had been trying since morning to rescue the trapped survivor.

Reduced to Rubble

A garment worker rescued from the ruins Reuters

Industrial Disasters in Asia

Earlier, local people and families of victims had demonstrated near the collapsed building, as news of Mr. Rana's arrest broke. "We want the death penalty for Rana," said Shamsher Ali, who lost his daughter in the accident. "I won't get my daughter back, but I want him to be punished."

Mr. Rana allegedly didn't obtain mandatory permits from the government agency overseeing building safety in the greater Dhaka area. He allegedly constructed the eight-story building on the site of a pond without proper precautions, according to authorities.

And Mr. Rana on Tuesday allegedly told a gathering of locals that the building would stand for 100 years, according to people who attended. But the local council, whose engineers inspected the building before the collapse, said the engineers had previously warned the building was unsafe.

Authorities had ordered the arrest of owners of factories in the building, after allegations they forced workers to return to the building on Wednesday despite safety concerns after a crack emerged on an exterior wall.

On Sunday, the owner of Ether Tex Ltd., which was housed on the third floor of the collapsed building, was arrested in Dhaka, a senior police official said. And on Saturday, police arrested the owner of Phantom Apparels Ltd., a garment factory housed on the fifth floor. The factory lists as clients the Spanish fashion label Mango and other international retailers. Mango has said it had placed a test order with the factory.

The garment manufacturers' association said that so far, four owners have given themselves up to police voluntarily.

None of the owners arrested or their lawyers could be reached to comment.

The association said apparel factories would reopen Monday. The factories had been closed over the weekend because of protests by workers over the Savar building collapse.

Anger at the loss of life has sparked days of protests and clashes. Police on Saturday used tear gas and rubber bullets on demonstrators who vandalized cars and shops.

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